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Bits from The Trey Burke Show, 10/14

How different is this season from last season?
I think for the most part, we’re all more comfortable. The pace of this offense this year is much higher, and coach [Quin] Snyder, he’s allowing us to play, you know, through mistakes and he’s allowing us to play, you know, more freely. And I think that’s giving everybody on the team confidence.

You know, we’re still a young team, and you know, with this new coaching staff, it’s still gonna take time for us to all the way, you know, mesh together as a young core. But I think, you know, right now, we’re, you know, we’re showing, you know, a lot of promise.

Are you excited to have the opportunity to play in a “free” offense?
Absolutely. You know, I think the most, for the most part, it’s, our transition plays [are] much different than last year. Last year, a lot of our offense was just half-court offense, and sometimes, you know, we’ll get stagnant out there.

And you know, this year, coach Snyder, he wants us playing much faster. He wants us getting out in transition and making plays, you know, within the first, you know, five to 10 seconds of the shot clock. And you know, I think that’s allowing, you know, or it’s playing towards all of our strengths on the offensive end. You know, so I think, you know, for the most part, you know, we’re all more comfortable with this offense and you know, it’s easier for us to, you know, bring out our strengths.

Rudy Gobert is a monster.
Yeah, Rudy’s at, Rudy’s in the way out there. He’s, on the defensive end, he’s definitely always in the way. You know, if one of us gets beat, you know, by our man, and you know, he gets to the rim, Rudy’s right there to clean it up.

On the offensive end, you know, we can rely on Rudy to, you know, go up for a oo–for a alley-oop or a, you know, to get putbacks. So you know, Rudy’s a young player who’s just gon continue to learn. His potential’s through the roof. You know, we just gotta continue to work with him.

Is Enes Kanter working hard on his defense?
Absolutely. We’re pushing him every day. We know that, we know what type of player he can be. You know, if he puts as much energy towards the defensive end as he does on offense, then, you know, we’re pushing him every day on that in practice. You know, he’s just gon continue to become a better defensive player going up against guys like, you know, [LaMarcus] Aldridge and Blake Griffin.

But I think it’s more of a mindset with Enes. You know, once he decides that he wants to, you know, be that type of defensive player or that type of defensive stopper, like he can be, then I think that’s when, you know, we’ll see that on the defensive end from him.

What was your reaction when you found out Gordon Hayward was staying with the Jazz?
Nah, I was definitely excited. It wa–I wasn’t surprised. I really didn’t know what he was doing. I kinda tried to leave that decision to him, you know, because that’s a tough decision, and you know, I’ve never been in that situation, you know, in my career yet. So, I don’t know what he was feeling in that situ–or, you know, with that decision.

Then I think, you know, when he came back, well, I know, I was really excited. And, you know, we needed a player like Gordon to come back, because he’s definitely a leader on our team. He’s been here, you know, for four or five years, and it was only right for him to come back and you know, help lead this young team.

On being a leader and mentoring Dante Exum
I think the most important part about summer league for me was going out there, you know, showing the, you know, the young guys and the guys that were trying out that, you know, I wanna be a leader of this team, and that I’m gonna be one of the leaders of this team as well.

And you know, it seemed like I was in that position last year, where Dante and Rodney [Hood] is right now. You know, games were moving fast. Come into the NBA and you don’t know everything. You have to make adjustments. So you know, I tried to be there for them and tried to be there specifically for Dante ’cause he plays, you know, my position, and the shooting guard.

So you know, I kinda know some of the struggles he was facing during summer league, and you know, I felt like, you know, a lotta people, you know, they look at it, they’re all, “You a–but you and Dante are competing against each other.” But I didn’t want to look at it, you know, like that.

I wanted to, you know, make sure, you know, I was there for him when he, you know, went through some of those trials that I faced last year because there was definitely guys like John Lucas who, you know, was [playing] my position, who was, you know, putting his arm around me and you know, telling me to continue to, you know, fight through when I was making mistakes.

So, it was a goal of mine, just to show my leadership [by playing in summer league] and to continue to grow as a leader as well. (1320)